Newcastle United’s Saudi-backed owner is in the North East this week, but Eddie Howe’s long-term future remains up in the air after a disappointing season
Newcastle United owners are in town this week (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
Newcastle United’s Saudi owners are on site this week to overhaul the future of St James’ Park and outline plans for a £100m cash boost. The decision to redevelop the iconic ground or build a brand new ground at adjacent Leeds Park is an ongoing debate between the club’s owners and its fan base.
But a group from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Reuben brothers, a minority shareholder, will be in the northeast this week. They are here to shape much of the club’s commercial strategy, with the stadium firmly on the agenda.
“Today and the next three days will be spent in Newcastle,” club chief executive David Hopkinson told Sportpro London. “Our owners, a delegation from Saudi Arabia and the Reuben family will be here to discuss the choices and trade-offs necessary to seize the opportunity in front of us.
“We are looking at what to do with the stadium, whether it’s a major renovation or a brand new stadium.We need more capacity to grow revenue.
Join us on Facebook! For the latest news, analysis and more on Mirror Football’s Facebook page
read more: Newcastle are set to cash in on a £55m flop within a year of signing him
“Our training ground is very good, but not as good as other training grounds. If we’re going to have world-class ambitions, we need world-class infrastructure.”
The former Madison Square Garden and Real Madrid sales boss says this is part of a wider strategy to increase the club’s revenue by £100m a season, pushing annual income to levels of £450m.
The club’s training ground has been rebranded as ‘The Knox’ following an agreement with a soft drinks company, as the club looks to build on last season’s 44% jump in commercial income to £120m.
Iconic stadium under discussion (Image: Paul ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Hopkinson outlined his ambitions to challenge for both the Premier League and WSL titles by the end of the decade, and said revenue generation was key to meeting the Premier League’s upcoming team cost ratio regulations.
“Currently we don’t have a car sponsor. We should have a sponsor,” he added. “Right now we don’t have an insurance sponsor. We should have a sponsor. We didn’t have naming rights to the practice field and now we do.”
“Stadium naming rights, expanding our digital audience, all these things can generate revenue. If we execute well, we could potentially unlock £100m in annual run-rate income.”
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+ and Ultimate TV packages
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundles to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, plus 135 channels and complete coverage of the Premier League and EFL from Sky.
Sky has over 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more, with at least 215 of them live from the top flight, along with F1, darts and golf.
